.44 Magnum Fail!

[Feuer Frei!]

Rare occurrence i would assume.
Of course, there may well be a law suit that occurred with this particular incident, hence the publication.

Smith & Wesson Model 629 .44 Magnum with 6½ inch barrel that has been the victim of a rare phenomenon known as an integral detonation. An explosion that blows the gun apart, this would have occurred when the gun was initially fired

http://www.vincelewis.net/44magboom.html


A round contains a double charge?

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Feuer Frei!

A round contains a double charge?

I suppose that's possible. Always, always, always do quality control over your reloads.

Personally, I
- always use projectiles by the same manufacturer to minimize variances in weight.
- always sort my brass by manufacturer for the same reason.
- weigh each and every round as i move it from the press bin, to a storage box. ( I hate squib loads)
- look for split cases (again) as I move finished round to above mentioned storage box. ( I hate case head separation )

Depending on brass used, your mean weight will change. For example, off the top of my head, finished 9mm cartridges with blazer brass was 184 grains or so. Winchester was 180, federal is also 180 grains. If you know your charging 4 to 4.3 grains of powder, then any deviation 4 grains below the mean average should be rejected. I like to remove rounds that are 2 grains deviation. When you've had 3 squib loads in the past, you get anal about this. Its worth nothing that some deviation in weight IS expected because not all brass, even by same manufacture is of the same eight. Some batch's are different. Also, an auto-powder measure is only accurate up to 0.3 grains or so.

Now, one thing I never checked for however, was overcharging. I'm not even sure this is possible on a progressive press. I just loaded about 370 9mm rounds yesterday. Maybe ill go back and weigh all of them again, because I know there's a couple that go 4 grains over the mean weight, but I just dismissed that as being deviation in brass weight.

[Sailor Steve]

That's-a some-a big-a boom!

[Platapus]

I used to work with a guy who hot loaded his own .44 rounds. As if the normal .44 round is not powerful enough.

To him, more power was everything. Unfortunately, not only did he know little about ballistics, he knew little about safe loading.

He had this very nice and expensive Dan Wesson (I think you can see where this is going)

The bad news is that he blew the barrel of his gun.
The good news is that the splinter from that barrel missed his eye by about 1/8 inch and merely dug a divit in the side of his cheek.

Another data point for "just because you can afford a piece of equipment, does not mean you should."

.44 mag hot loads.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Platapus

To him, more power was everything. Unfortunately, not only did he know little about ballistics, he knew little about safe loading.

That is just downright dangerous. Handloading is a detail oriented hobby. Part science, and part art.

[Wolferz]

That weapon must belong to Tim the tool man Taylor.
MORE POWER < gorilla grunts>

Forget the "pop no kick"
That was a "boom no face"

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Platapus

I used to work with a guy who hot loaded his own .44 rounds. As if the normal .44 round is not powerful enough.

To him, more power was everything. Unfortunately, not only did he know little about ballistics, he knew little about safe loading.

He had this very nice and expensive Dan Wesson (I think you can see where this is going)

The bad news is that he blew the barrel of his gun.
The good news is that the splinter from that barrel missed his eye by about 1/8 inch and merely dug a divit in the side of his cheek.

Another data point for "just because you can afford a piece of equipment, does not mean you should."

.44 mag hot loads.

That was me in the 80s. Gun magazines said the Ruger Super Blackhawk was capable of extremely hot loads, and I made it my duty to test that out. Can't remember just how many grains or percent I hotloaded, but everyone who saw the gun shoot couldn't get over the ten-foot flames coming out the barrel.

Would not do that now.